From The Winter 2005 Issue of Natural Grocery Buyer

Trendspotting

Spinach Gets a New Champion
Look out, Popeye. Fresh Express, the Salinas, Calif.-based producer of conventional and organic bagged salads, has begun co-branding its line of spinach products with a SuperFood Rx logo, in concert with Dr. Steven Pratt, author of the best-selling book SuperFoods Rx: Fourteen Foods that Will Change Your Life (William Morrow, 2004). The logo is paired with graphics that detail the vitamin content of spinach, as well as its high levels of lutein. “Lutein participates in antioxidant activity, which helps maintain immune function,” the package notes.

“Spinach is at the pinnacle of the SuperFoods Rx powerhouse choices and has more demonstrated health benefits than almost any other food,” Pratt has written.

No word yet on whether Pratt will license the SuperFood logo to producers of beans, soy, yogurt or any of the 10 other items he identifies in his book as nutritional stalwarts—or to Bluto, for that matter.

—L.B.

Americans Put Kibosh on Weight Gain
The percentage of overweight Americans is holding steady for the first time since 1998, according to a new study from The NPD Group of Port Washington, N.Y.

Using adult body-mass index figures as a gauge, NPD announced that 62 percent of Americans are overweight, the same as last year.

But NPD vice president and food expert Harry Balzer thinks this small change is a big deal. “We knew at some point this trend toward obesity would end; we just didn’t know when,” he says.

People reported snacking less, going to restaurants less, grilling more and paying more attention to calories in their meals. By contrast, through the 1990s, people reported every year that they wanted to lose 20 pounds, and every year they gained weight.

More people are watching the sugar content in their diets and 55 percent agreed with the statement, “It’s important for food to be fresh.”

NPD’s 19th Annual Eating Patterns in America report, released in October, divides households into five categories based on eating habits. “Naturalists”—households that tend to eat healthier foods, such as natural cereals and baby carrots—have seen a steady increase, from 16 percent of households in 2000 to 21 percent in the most recent survey.

—L.E.

Kids Who Eat at Home Are Happier, Healthier
A study of nearly 5,000 Minnesota teenagers found that kids who ate regular meals with their families scored higher on everything from physical health to grades to emotional balance.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School asked middle and high school students in metropolitan Minneapolis-St. Paul how often they ate with their families. They also asked about school performance, relationships with their parents, whether they thought about suicide, and risky behaviors such as smoking and drinking.

The numbers showed that 50 percent of girls who hadn’t eaten with their families in the previous week smoked cigarettes. Among girls who ate with their parents every night, 17 percent smoked.

Among boys, the same question showed that 36 percent who rarely sat down for a family dinner were smokers, while 22 percent of boys who ate with their families every night also smoked cigarettes. The results showed that “each additional family meal per week had some benefit to kids,” says lead author Marla Eisenberg of the medical school’s Center for Adolescent Health and Development.

Even after controlling for the presence of existing strong family connections—using questions about whether the teens could talk to their mothers and fathers about problems, or whether they felt their parents loved them—more meals at home produced better well-being and health among kids.

The study was published Aug. 16 in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

—L.E.

Vitamin E Media Coverage Misleading
While a recent study by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has consumers and retailers wondering whether they should start dumping their stocks of vitamin E, many wonder something else entirely: Have the media sent the wrong message?

“The message should be that people should not try to take a high dose of one supplement without considering that it may increase our need for other nutrients,” Neil E. Levin, a certified clinical nutritionist and educator for NOW Foods, recently wrote in rebuttal to the article. “Elderly, sick people need a more holistic approach rather than using a single nutrient in high doses, as if it were a drug.”

The Hopkins study, published in the Nov. 10 Annals of Internal Medicine, reviewed 19 previous studies on the effects of “high-dose” vitamin E supplementation. The authors concluded that people who take more than 400 international units daily of vitamin E have a 5 percent greater risk of death than those who don’t supplement.

Many who read the study found flaws in its design. “One of the things with a meta-analysis is that it adds power to statistics,” says Judy Blatman, a spokeswoman for the Council for Responsible Nutrition. “If you looked at their 19 studies individually, 18 did not find a statistically significant increase in mortality.” In addition, the small sample sizes in the earlier studies, combined with the facts that many of the participants were chronically ill or elderly and received synthetic forms of vitamin E instead of the more potent natural form, call the results into question.

In addition, more recent research, published in the November issue of Diabetes Care, indicated that vitamin E supplements can cut the risk of heart attack and death from heart disease for about 40 percent of diabetics.

“The bottom line is this should not change the way consumers look at vitamin E,” Blatman says. “We’re working hard to get the message out that vitamin E is safe and vitamin E is good for you.”

—L.B.

Fair Trade Heating Up
Coffee may have woken up consumers to the issues surrounding fair trade, but the movement has expanded far beyond the humble coffee bean. In the last two years, 60 new fair trade products have been introduced in the United States and Canada, according to Productscan Online. “The fair trade movement, which hopes to secure a living price for the goods produced by farmers of commodity-oriented agricultural products, has blossomed into one of the packaged food and beverage industry’s fastest-growing trends,” says Tom Vierhile, executive editor of Productscan Online. Coffee is still the No. 1 product in fair trade, worth about $100 million. About 30 million pounds of fair trade coffee are expected to hit U.S. shores this year, compared with 18.7 million pounds in 2003. Other products netting cash from karma include chocolates, teas and fresh fruit.

—L.B.

Wasteful Nation
Between 40 percent and 50 percent of the food harvested in the United States is never eaten, according to a study by Timothy W. Jones, an anthropologist at the University of Arizona Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology. Farmers may destroy an entire field of crops if market conditions aren’t favorable, and retailers waste tens of billions of dollars worth of food, according to research still under way. Households discard 14 percent of their food, totaling an annual average of $590 in wasted food per family of four, or $43 billion nationwide. Consumers can reduce waste by planning food purchases carefully and knowing what foods can be refrigerated or frozen for later use. Retailers can play a part in educating consumers.

—L.B.

Go West
Natural Products Expo West 2005 will feature more than 2,500 companies exhibiting natural foods, supplements and personal care products to more than 35,000 attendees. The 25th annual Expo West will be held March 17 to 20 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. Disneyland may be just down the road, but the real attractions will be on the Convention Center’s busy floor.

Founded in 1981, Expo West has grown significantly each year, mirroring the explosion of the natural products market. Last year saw an 18 percent increase in the number of buyers and retailers attending. This year, even more are expected.

The weekend-long show offers natural grocery buyers the chance to check out new and trendy products, learn about industry issues and rub elbows with grocery buyers from all over the country. Long-lasting business relationships are often begun at Expo West. Last year, nearly 80 percent of buyers at the show found new companies to do business with.

To keep up with what’s hot in natural products, buyers should attend the “Top 10 Consumer Trends” education seminar on Thursday. Other key education events aimed at buyers include “Hot New Products” and “Organic Consumer Trends,” both on Friday. A full schedule of events can be found at www.expowest.com.

One of Expo West’s most popular events is the Fresh Ideas Organic Marketplace, an outdoor business-to-business event, modeled on the traditional farmers’ market. In a huge white tent outside the convention center, hundreds of growers and manufacturers of certified organic products will gather to offer samples, answer questions and mingle with buyers.

“The Fresh Ideas Organic Marketplace offers a more intimate alternative to the sometimes hectic convention center floor,” says Exhibit Sales Coordinator Amy Dageenakis. The Fresh Ideas tent will be open between 12:30 and 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Another Expo West attraction is the Special Diet and Ethnic Foods Café, which will be open daily during show floor hours. At the café, grocery buyers can sample low-fat, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, kosher and ethnic foods.

—Tyler Wilcox

Supermarkets Find New Ways To Promote Healthy Habits
Grocery stores are finding out that good nutrition has physical—and fiscal—benefits. Harrisburg, Pa.-area Giant Food stores offered rebates on select healthy foods purchased between Oct. 24 and Dec. 4, 2004. Giant went a step further by partnering with HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance. The insurance companies’ subscribers were entered into prize drawings and received gifts when they purchased rebated healthy foods at Giant Food stores, after signing up for the Healthier Selections One Check Rebates program on Giant’s Web site. HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance also funded blood pressure and body-mass screenings at Giant Food Stores between Oct. 30 and Nov. 16. “Our goal is to encourage people to make healthier eating choices. Each of us has much of a responsibility for our own health,” says Kendall Marcocci, director of communications at HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance.

In the health care arena, select supermarkets have begun to offer drop-in centers where shoppers can visit with a nurse to diagnose and treat common health problems. MinuteClinic, offering health kiosks in eight Target stores in the Baltimore area and 14 at Target and Cub Foods stores in Minnesota, is one company offering such services. “Our focus is convenience,” says Tom Charland, senior vice president of MinuteClinic. “We serve a lot of dual-income parents who are stretched for time. We offer health care without an appointment, we accept most forms of insurance and we’re located in stores that have a pharmacy under the same roof. Also, we always open several locations in one area so that anyone living in that metro area can get to a MinuteClinic within 15 to 20 minutes.” Charland stresses that MinuteClinics are not designed to be a substitute for a primary care physician, but are best used during “those times when it’s not convenient to go to your physician, either because of time constraints or location.”

—Christine Spehar